Reds 4, Cardinals 2

CINCINNATI (AP)

That's the record after Latos turned in seven solid innings and
the Reds broke out of their slump with a 4-2 win over St. Louis on
Saturday night.

''It felt real good,'' said Latos, who didn't get the decision
in the Reds' first win over St. Louis this season. ''Against that
lineup, any time you can hold them to two runs or less and not walk
anybody is a good day. That's a great lineup - not tough.
Great.''

Devin Mesoraco homered and drove in two runs, and Jay Bruce also
homered and turned in one of several eye-catching defensive plays
as the Reds snapped a three-game losing streak and scored more than
two runs against St. Louis for the first time in the last seven
games between the teams.

Latos (6-0), who got the decision in Cincinnati's last win over
St. Louis on April 29, allowed eight hits and two runs with no
walks and five strikeouts against a Cardinals team that went into
the game leading the National League in hitting. He gave the Reds
exactly what they needed.

''That was a very, very, very good ballgame,'' manager Dusty
Baker said.

St. Louis right fielder Carlos Beltran credited Latos with
making adjustments.

''Every time we face Latos, he seems different,'' Beltran said,
who struck out to end the seventh as the last Cardinals batter to
face Latos. ''He mixes it up pretty good. He kept me off balance.
When a pitcher can do that most of the time, he is going to be
successful.''

Latos got help from several stellar defensive plays, including
back-to-back grabs by center fielder Shin-Soo Choo and Bruce of
deep drives against the wall in the sixth, and first baseman Joey
Votto's behind-the-back flip to Latos, who caught it barehanded and
tagged first base to eliminate Matt Carpenter in the seventh. Latos
rated that play and Bruce's leaping catch of David Freese's drive
to the right field wall in the sixth as even.

''They were both outstanding,'' he said. ''I saw Joey out of the
corner of my eye. That's why I barehanded it. I wasn't sure if Jay
was going to catch that ball.''

The Reds, who'd lost five of their last six games against St.
Louis, scored four against St. Louis rookie left-hander Tyler Lyons
(2-2). He gave up six hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 5 1-3
innings before a sellout crowd of 40,740 at Great American Ball
Park.

The score was 2-2 when Derrick Robinson, a rookie outfielder
making his first career start in the No. 2 slot in the batting
order, led off the sixth with a double down the right-field line.
Votto followed with a ringing double to straightaway center field.
Robinson scored the go-ahead run, and Votto went to third on
shortstop Pete Kozma's errant throw to the plate.

Votto couldn't score on Brandon Phillips' groundout to a
drawn-in Kozma or on Bruce's swinging bunt infield single. Todd
Frazier walked to load the bases, and Mesoraco grounded a single
through the hole into left field for a 4-2 lead.

The Cardinals used fundamentals to take a 1-0 lead in the
second. Yadier Molina lined Latos' first pitch to right for a
double, went to third base on David Freese's fly out to deep right
and scored on Jon Jay's broken-bat groundout to second.

Bruce tied it in the bottom of the inning with his 10th homer of
the season, a 382-foot solo shot into the right-field bullpen on a
1-0 pitch with one out.

Beltran and Allen Craig both extended hitting streaks while
giving St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the third. Beltran extended his to
nine games with a one-out double to left-center field and moved to
third on Matt Holliday's groundout to second. Craig hit a slow
bouncer up the middle that shortstop Zack Cozart fielded behind
second base, but his hurried throw took Votto off the bag, allowing
Beltran to score. Craig was credited with an infield hit that gave
him a 12-game hitting streak.

Mesoraco tied it 2-2 in the fifth with his third homer of the
season and first since May 21, a 382-foot drive into the
right-center field seats on a 1-0 pitch from Lyons.

NOTES: The Reds called up right-hander Curtis Partch from
Triple-A Louisville on Saturday and optioned RHP Logan Ondrusek to
the Bats, one day after Ondrusek gave up four hits and four runs in
one inning of relief during Cincinnati's 9-2 loss to St. Louis. ...
Beltran was back in the St. Louis lineup one day after leaving in
the sixth inning with a sore quadriceps. ... Carpenter wasted no
time extending his hitting streak to 17 games, leading off the top
of the first with a single to left. ... Freese led off the fourth
with a single, extending his career-high hitting streak to 18
games, the longest active streak in the majors. ... Bruce's 39 home
runs off left-handed pitchers over the last four seasons leads all
left-handed batters.

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